In the managed service provider (MSP) industry, strong partnerships are crucial to growth.
Vendor partnerships can help MSPs assist companies looking to accelerate their digital transformation. This can span different types of services, from data migration and backup to advanced workspace improvement needs, such as adapting to new technologies. In fact, KPMG’s 2023 study found that businesses keen on investing in emerging technologies rose more than thrice since last year to 32%, which gives MSPs considerable opportunities to tap.
Many MSPs now rely on partnerships, such as with independent software vendors (ISVs), to respond to increasing business demands. According to our most recent Global MSP Survey, 42% work directly with ISVs.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the four reasons why partnering with ISVs is essential for MSPs:
1. Access to Multiple Solutions
Our survey found that the top needs of MSPs’ customers range from security, cloud adoption and migration, and data governance. This shows that to be competitive, MSPs must be able to respond to these demands. Otherwise, businesses will go elsewhere where their needs can be met.
ISV solutions can provide MSPs with scalability; they can easily add new solutions on the fly without spending a lot of time and resources on software development. Doing so allows MSPs to easily adjust their services as their clients’ businesses grow or their needs change.
Through ISV partnerships, MSPs can offer foundational products, such as cloud migration and backup, and even offer advanced services to proactively address other risks, such as lack of proper data governance in their digital workspace.
2. Quick Client Assistance
Businesses’ digital workspaces are crucial for their operations as employees need collaboration tools and constant access to files to carry out tasks. If something goes wrong in their digital workspace, their MSP should be able to swiftly respond to their needs.
Spiceworks Ziff Davis’ 2023 survey revealed that insufficient response times and poor customer support are among the top pain points of organizations with their MSPs.
One factor in this situation is that MSPs often handle multiple clients with varying needs. According to Optimized Docs, 57% of MSPs add between one to six clients in 12 months.
By forming strategic partnerships with ISVs, MSPs can immediately meet their clients’ diverse needs without having to spend time and resources developing their own software solutions. When clients address a need, MSPs can instantly provide solutions through ISV-provided tools.
3. Training and Support
Teaming up with vendors means MSPs must have enough knowledge of the products they carry. This is why, according to our survey, a majority (31%) of MSPs are keen on getting advanced training from ISVs to become an expert with their solution.
To meet this demand for training, 30% of ISVs are adding more trainings to their offerings, according to the Partner Experience Trends published by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).
By teaming up with an effective vendor, MSPs can get training and support to stay abreast of industry trends and best practices. The partnership can also improve service delivery and establish MSPs as trusted advisors to their clients.
4. Increased Revenue
The partnerships of MSPs with ISVs are all geared towards one main goal: business growth. This includes boosting revenues for MSPs. Notably, CompTIA’s Partner Experience Trends revealed that 39% of MSPs’ channel revenue generation methods are mostly driven by their vendor compensation which includes product margins and discounts.
Furthermore, clients expect MSPs to respond to the demand for emerging technologies, such as AI, and their partnerships with ISVs are expected to assist with the capability to attend to these needs and in effect, increase their revenues.
According to the Q4 2023 Channel Futures Market Outlook survey, 52% of MSPs expect to reach a profit increase of up to 20%, which is highly attributable to emerging technologies, including AI solutions obtained by customers with help from vendors.
This speaks volumes about how ISVs can enable MSPs to boost their revenue through upselling or cross-selling opportunities.
Vendor Partnerships: Key to MSP Growth
MSPs can greatly enhance their capability to scale their operations by expanding their offerings through vendor partnerships. It also significantly decreases the time to market new solutions and helps them respond quickly to the diverse demands of businesses across industries.
By finding an effective vendor that can provide all these four needs, MSPs can be on their way to a broader customer base and higher profits as well.
The AvePoint Partner Program is designed to enable MSPs to work as true partners, giving them the resources they need to create impactful, comprehensive solutions that meet a wide range of customer requirements.
As a top-five Azure Co-Sell ISV leader, AvePoint solutions assist MSPs with marketing, sales, and technical needs. To boost expertise, AvePoint offers kits and sales resources, global co-sell support, sales resources, solution certifications, and 24/7 live partner support.
Want to learn more about our AvePoint Partner Program? Contact us today!
